


Opportunities

by Sineala



Category: ALMA-TADEMA Lawrence - Works
Genre: Community: fandom_stocking, F/F, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 17:37:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/624799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sineala/pseuds/Sineala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aurelia visits Claudia with news; Claudia is not entirely sure whether to be happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Opportunities

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Carmarthen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmarthen/gifts).



> This is based on the Alma-Tadema painting [Unwelcome Confidences](http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/sir-lawrence-alma-tadema/unwelcome-confidences-1902). Obviously the character names and the circumstances are my own invention.

"Come now," Claudia said, beckoning poor Aurelia to sit next to her, "you must tell me what has you in such a state!"

Aurelia, she saw, was so out-of-sorts that she nearly tripped on the tigerskin rug, but she made her way to the couch eventually. It was the best spot in the house, having long been their favorite place to sit, with the great arch behind them letting in the warm summer breezes, the sea and the sunlight; surely her friend could not fail to be cheered?

Strange, thought Claudia; it was not that Aurelia seemed entirely unhappy, either. Her pale face was flushed, spots of color high in her cheeks, and even after she had sat she kept looking away, twisting her hands in her lap; if this was a sadness, it was a queer one indeed.

"Modestus is leaving," Aurelia said, very quietly, almost too softly to be heard over the chatter of birds outside.

Claudia's hand flew to her bosom; she was saddened at her friend's misfortune, of course, but yet she felt something-- something-- she knew not what. "No!" she gasped. "You mean to say he is not marrying you?"

Aurelia, still looking away, gave a little shrug; the fine fabric of her dress slid a little about her shoulders, but she did not even adjust it as it fell. "If he is," she said, "it will not be for another year; the emperor is sending him to Crete and Cyrenaica to govern there, and he has decided he had rather not bring a wife."

Claudia could not even tell if Aurelia was happy about this; it was hard to say from the way she held herself, still all twisted up. She dared an opinion anyway.

"I would have missed you."

It was within reason, of course, that she would have missed Aurelia; Aurelia had been her truest friend for years. Claudia did not think, though, that the amount she would have missed her was quite reasonable. It alarmed her, sometimes.

"I as well," said Aurelia, looking up now, with a shy smile on her face.

It was that look, that very look, that made Claudia want the strangest things of her. She wanted to hold her, to embrace her. She thought that, and something about the thought sent her heart fluttering; she had to clutch at her breast again and look away. She did not even know what she desired of Aurelia, truly, but at the same time she was mortally certain that she ought not tell her.

_We will have another year, at least_ , she thought. But Aurelia would marry eventually -- O, gods, even Claudia would have to marry eventually -- and they might not even have the year, for what if some other senator came to lead her into marriage in the meantime?

She could not abide the thought of that, not at all.

But they had now, and they had this. Aurelia was her friend. They were friends. It would be enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Gaius Arinius Modestus was the governor of Creta et Cyrenaica from 73-75. I know nothing else about him.


End file.
